Daniel James grabs early Man Utd chance to offer Solskjaer a fascinating decision

The sight of Victor Orta rubbing tears from his eyes as January turned to February takes on greater significance with each passing week.

At the time, the Leeds United director of football could be forgiven his emotion – working into the early hours of the morning in a desperate bid to conclude a transfer he and manager Marcelo Bielsa considered the final piece of the jigsaw.

In remarkable footage captured in the Amazon Prime documentary ‘Take us home: Leeds,’ details of an agonising transfer deadline day from January this year are laid bare.

James has completed his medical, chosen his shirt number, posed for official photographs and even signed paperwork on a £7million deal.

(Getty Images)

There’s one problem: Swansea, having given permission for the Wales international to travel to Leeds, are not picking up the phone.

An extension is granted by the Premier League, but still no deal is done.

Orta’s drawn-out embrace of James as the player departs Elland Road’s offices is a measure of his anguish and realisation of the special talent he has missed out on. It’s as if he literally can’t bear to let him go.

And it is a measure of James’ level-headedness that he takes the disappointment in his stride.

There are no histrionics on his part – no tears.

“We will see you soon,” says Orta – more in hope than genuine belief.

Then Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins had misgivings about such a small fee for a player of James’ potential.

He was right, with Manchester United eventually agreeing a deal that could rise to £21m just months later.

(Man Utd via Getty Images)

Leeds fans can only speculate about the difference James would have made to the second half of their campaign that so dramatically ran out of steam and eventually saw Bielsa’s one-time leaders crash out in the playoffs.

But the manner in which he has lit up an albeit underwhelming start to United’s season offers a tantalising glimpse of the quality they missed out on.

Their loss has been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s gain – even if the United manager, himself, never expected such a spectacular impact from his very first signing at the club.

It’s no secret that Jadon Sancho was Solskjaer leading attacking target this summer.

Paulo Dybala emerged as a late alternative – and even veteran forward Mario Mandzukic was approached as United attempted to bolster an attack that has been left short on numbers following the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

James was considered one for the future and one who would have to patiently wait for his chance.

(REUTERS)

The decision to name him on the bench for the opening game of the season against Chelsea underlined his status in Solskjaer’s squad.

But in the space of a month of the season, he has made himself virtually undroppable – and left his manager with something of a dilemma over the make-up of his attack.

While James has impressed on the right, he is clearly more comfortable coming in off the left, as he proved so emphatically with wonderful goals against Crystal Palace and Southampton before the international break.